Hello Ann
Some Insolvency Practitioners will not take cases on where people are over the age of 61 at the start of their IVA. However, the good news is that there are lots and lots of IPs who are willing to help propose an IVA for people over 61. We feel that it is a person's legal right to propose an IVA as stipulated in the Insolvency Act. Contact a few different companies and don't be put off if you are declined by any as there are definitely IPs that can help you. We have put through many successful IVA proposals for people in their sixties.
If your IVA was rejected your options really will be
(i) Propose another IVA offering more money (this really shouldn't be an option as you IP should've proposed an IVA offering as much as you can in the first place).
(ii) Enter into an informal agreement with your creditors whereby you offer to pay them as much as you can until the debt is cleared. This can be problematic as your creditors won't legally have to stop interest and charges and it can take a long time to pay your debts off in full.
(iii) Go bankrupt. You will likely be discharged in 12 months. Your debts will be legally written off. However, you may have to make payments to your creditors for three years and bankruptcy can have negative implications if you are a homeowner and on your employment. There is also a certain amount of publicity associated with bankruptcy.
My advice would be to concentrate on finding the best solution for your individual debt problem rather than worry about any potential IVA being declined.
Seek some expert advice from a number of companies.
Good luck with everything.
Best Regards
Oliver
Thomas Charles and Co Ltd.
Experts in personal debt solutions.
Read customer feedback at:
www.thomascharles.com/about_us.asp
